Centrifugal wringing and setting process for leather



May 8, 1951 G. H. JENNINGS 2,552,322

CENTRIEUGAL WEINGING AND SETTING PRocEss FOR LEATHER Filed June 19, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l @www SNN

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ATTORNEYS.

May 8, 1951 G. H. JENNINGS 2,552,322

CENTRIFUGAL WRINGING AND SETTING PROCESS FOR LEATHER Filed June 19, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheei 2 ATTORNE YS.

Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES CEN TRIFUGAL WRINGING AND SETTING PROCESS FOR LEATHER George Hollis Jennings, Cincinnati, Ohio, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Howes Leather Company, Inc., Boston, Mass., a corporation Application June 19, 1948, Serial No. 33,997

9 Claims. l

My invention relates to a novel process wherein leather pieces are mounted on a centrifugal machine in which the pieces are rotated rapidly in a predetermined plane which wrings, sets out and dries the pieces so that no separate wringing and setting out and no tacking or pasting on frames to dry is required.

In the art prior to the invention set forth f herein, in the production of chrome retan sole leather, for example, after the hides are taken from the retanning or fat liquor treatment, (i. e., after the last tanning operation) the next operation is to wring the pieces, which may be full hides or hides cut into parts such as crops, bellies, sides, double bends, etc., to prepare them for setting out.

The setting out operation as previously practiced, smooths, attens and stretches the pieces to prepare them for tacking on frames to dry. This operation has commonly been done on a setting out machine in which the leather piece is supported and brought into contact with a spirally uted and ribbed roll which flattens, stretches and smooths the leather primarily along the line of the roll axis.

Following this the leather has been tack-ed out on a frame to dry, tacking being required to keep the piece from curling or shrinking too much in drying.

After drying, which may take three or four days, the leather is stripped from the frames an the further processing takes place.

It is my object to take the leather piece and mount it so that wringing or throwing out of the moisture in the piece takes place through centrifugal action, and further drying may take place by evaporation. At the same time the piece is properly stretched and flattened and actually set out more uniformly and better than by treatment in the ordinary setting out machine. Continued rotation'of the piece until dry maintains the area and flatness of the piece thereby eliminating the necessity of tacking out to prevent shrinkage and curling. Ordinarily the throwing out of moisture occurs during the stretching and flattening of the leather piece. In some instances there is a controlled elimination of moisture, the stretching and flattening being the essential result of the centrifugal operation.

Further it is my object to greatly minimize the time required for this combination of wringing, setting out, tacking, drying and stripping from tacking frames, whereby in two or three hours Ordinarily vegetable. 5

tanned leather is not tacked out on a frame but merely .hung upon drying racks.

In eliminating the wringing, setting, tacking and drying, saving in the leather is elected both from the point of View of eliminating the tacking operation, (which makes holes in the hide) and to a desirable extent because of the production of a greater surface area of leather. The leather, due to the centrifugal action spreads out and thus may be controlled to give a greater yield than is possible with the present method of wringing, setting, tacking and drying.

Broadly, it is my idea to eliminate the ordinary operations of wringing, setting out and handling for drying (as tacking, pasting, hanging, etc.) for any kind of leather on which these operations are ordinarily performed.

Further, it is my object to produce a more uniform and/or vprnperly stretched piece of leather than is obtained from the tacking, pasting or hanging methods.

In addition to the process involved, it is the obj-ect of my invention to provide a novel machine which will accommodate itself to quickly securing leather pieces and rotating them in a predetermined plane thereby accomplishing botn the wringing, setting and' drying of the leather.

The foregoing objects and other objects to which reference will be made in the ensuing descriptiOn, I accomplish by practicing the steps rleather clamp.

Figure 6 is a plan View of a modied type of centrifugal machine adapted for processing a compl-ete double bend or butt bend of leather.

Figure 7 is a sectional view of the machine shown in Figure 6 as would appear along the lines 1-1 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plan view of a double bend or butt bend, which is approximately 66 inches in length and inches in width.

Referring to Figure 1, I have shown a casing l connected with a weather machine 2 through which air of a desired humidity and temperature may be drawn through the conduit V3, into the .chamber l. The discharge of the conditioned air from the chamber may be through a conduit 4.

The chamber i is provided with a door which is removed when the machine is loaded.

It will be observed that a vertical shaft 6v having a pulley l is rotated byzmeans-oiaftwist. belt 8 from the pulley 9 of an electric motor-generally indicated at l0.

Mounted on the shaft 5 are=aseries -.of'spider` clamps i l. The spider clamps-have a'xedilower; plate i2, and adjustable upper platesy I3 which have serrated under surfaces indicated at` IL-r A leather piece indicated generally at I5, is inserted between the plates i2 and i3 andthe bolt i6 is tightened down .so as to securely hold the leather piece along one of its edges.

When the centrifugalmachine has startedup the-leather pieces swing from the position shown in solid lines at iin Figure l, to a horizontal position indicated in dotted lines at a. During this centrifugal wringing the piece stretches as suggested in Figure 4, to the dimensions as indicated' at la. The wrinkles are substantially removed and the fibers set in a hat plane avoiding` the necessity of scraping, rolling and setting the piecev in a mechanical setting machine.

In Figure 5 a slightly different typeY of a clamp is'suggested in which upper and lower jaws- Iza, 13a, are provided with a roller il, pivotally mounted inv a; slot IB. The rollers il tend to run down the inclined slotto hold the edge of the leather piece i5.

As soonl as the machine-is started'up the rollers Il are thrown still further down in the inclined'slot IS, thereby causing the roller il to grip all the more tightly against the edge of the leather piece i5.` When the machine is shut down, the clamp caused by the movement of the roller il willu immediately release itself as the roller is pushedback up the inclined slct.

In Figures 6 and 7, I-have shown a different type Y of machine in which a double bend of leather about 66 inches long and 60 inches-wide as shown in Figure 8; has an opening idf-punched out close to the center of the piece. A vertical shaft 6c is driven by a belt Saivhich engagesthe Ypulley 1a, on the shaft 6a. A series of collars 23 are secured on to the shaft a by means of a nutZi. The. collars are removable from he shaft and the leather piecesare mounted on the shaft with collars between each piece. For fitting over the shaft 6c the openings i9 provide a secure method of Yholding the leather pieces balanced attheir axial centers. Then .when the nut 2.1 is tightened down the double bends cf leatherv are securely held in substantially axially balanced positionas shown in Figure 7.

For supporting the centrifugal rotor shaft 5a from above, I have provided three arcuately spaced columns 22 which support I beams 23 Which extend down as shown in Figures 6 and 7 to a centrally arrangedl disc 2t which engages a hub member 25. A framework supporting structure 26 carries a plate 2. The shaft Sa carries the hub 28 anda horizontal thrust bearing 29 permits the table 38 to either rotate or remain stationary, depending on the-weight of the hides on the table. Ordinarily at the start of the rotor shaft the table 3d' turns but as the hides swing out to the positions shown in dotted lines in Figure 7, the-table stops revolving.

In carrying out the process the shaft Ed is rotatedat a speed, for example, of 750B.. P.' M; The leather pieces stretch considerably; become perfectly; dry and at thesame time the leather.

4 l pieces are flattened and set much more perfectly -than= where mechanical "setting is, used. All thelabor involved in tacking pieces oi hide on to frames, where tacking has in the past been required, is avoided.

I., distinguish between mechanical setting in which v.the leather piece is subjected to the pressure of Fluted rollers in a leather setting machine and centrifugal setting in Which the piece spins around rapidly on-its own axial center and is stretched Vand flattened entirely by the centrifugal effect oir-the fibers of the leather. So far as I am aware, leather has never, prior te my invention,l been set excepting by a mechanical or hand treatment in which the leather vas physically set outand stretched. In'other words, centrifuging a leather' piece'to hatten, stretch and set is an entirelyY newfproposal.

ltcdiications'in the particular mechanism illustrated for wringing, setting and drying either whole hides or pieces of hide will readily occurto those skilled in the art without departing from the` inventive principle involved. Whether the fibers of the 'leather are stretched is perhaps debatable. At least the fibers are arranged during the centrifugal drying and setting.

I have found that instead of'centrifugally -ro tating a leather piece at great speedin a horizontal plane thereby causing the piece to stretch, set and dry all in one continuous operation, I may centrifugally set and dry leatherpieces byv inclining: the shaft of the centrifugal machine at a desired angle tothe vertical. The Vshaft maybe horizontal and the pieces may bev set-and dried whilebeing rotated in a-vertical, instead'Y of a horizontal plane. As to the plane of rotation all that is necessary is that the setting andr` drying occur while the piece is being rapidly rotated in a predetermined plane.

dried and thereby mountit on a rapidlyy drivable shaft has many advantages over gripping the` edge of leather pieces.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as newY and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In the art of setting and drying leather, they Z. In the art of setting and drying leather, they method which comprises clamping a plurality` of pieces of leather in superposed relationship, the pieces being clamped throughout relatively small areas along their margins with said areasl in spaced parallel planes and their remaining portions collapsed into lcontact with each other, andl then rotating the pieces about an axis-perpendicular to said planes to cause the pieces to stretch out by centrifugal force into parallel planes out of contact with each other.

3. In the art of setting and drying leather, the method which comprises clamping a plurality of pieces of leather in superposed relationship.

the pieces being clamped throughout relativelysmall areas approximately at their centers with said areas in spaced parallel planes and their peripheral portions collapsed intopcontact with To cut a hole 1n the middle of a piece of leather to be set and` each other, and then rotating the pieces about an axis perpendicular to said planes to cause the pieces to stretch out by centrifugal force into parallel pl-anes out of contact with each other.

4. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotatable shaft, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft for clamping a plurality of pieces of leather in spaced relationship, the clamps having pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of the shaft, the surfaces of each pair extending transversely of the shaft and the space surrounding the shaft being unobstructed, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining portions collapsed into contact with each other. and then caused to stretch out in parallel planes out of contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

5. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotary table, a shaft extending upwardly from the center of the table, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft for clamping a plurality of pieces of leather in superposed spaced relationship, the clamps having pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of the shaft, the surfaces of each pair extending transversely of the shaft and the space surrounding the shaft above the table being unobstructed, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining.

portions collapsed into contact with each other on said table, and then caused to stretch out in planes par-allel to the table out of contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

6. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotatable shaft, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft on different sides of the shaft for clamping the margins of a plurality of pieces of leather respectively, the clamps having pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of thc shaft, the surfaces of each pair extending transversely of the shaft on one side thereof and the space surrounding the shaft being unobstructed, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby the margins of a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining portions collapsed into contact with each other, and then caused to stretch out in parallel planes out of Contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

7. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotary table, a shaft extending upwardly from the center of the table, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft on different sides of the shaft for clamping the margins of a plurality of pieces of leather in superposed spaced relationship, the clamps having pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of the shaft, the surfaces of each pair extending transversely of the shaft cn one side thereof and the space surrounding the shaft above the table being unobstructed, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby the margins of a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining portions collapsed into contact with each other on said table, and then caused to stretch out in planes parallel to the table out of contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

8. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotatable shaft, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft for clamping a plurality of pieces of leather in spaced relationship, the clamps comprising a series of rings fitting over the shaft with pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of the shaft and means to force the rings together, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining portions collapsed into contact with each other, and then caused to stretch out in parallel planes out of contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

9. In the art of setting and drying leather, a rotary table, a shaft extending upwardly from the center of the table, a series of clamps distributed along the shaft for clamping a plurality of pieces of leather in superposed spaced relationship, the clamps comprising a series of rings fitting over the shaft with pairs of opposed surfaces spaced lengthwise of the shaft and means to force the rings together, and means for rotating the shaft, whereby a plurality of pieces of leather may be clamped as aforesaid throughout relatively small areas, with their remaining portions collapsed into contact with each other on said table, and then caused to stretch out in planes parallel to the table out of contact with each other by centrifugal force when the shaft is rotated.

GEORGE HOLLIS JENNINGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,879,942 Meyer Sept. 27, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 153 Italy Mar. 25, 1878 

